A Tutorial on 5G Positioning
Review article, 2025

The widespread adoption of the fifth generation (5G) of cellular networks has brought new opportunities for the development of localization-based services. High-accuracy positioning use cases and functionalities defined by the standards are drawing the interest of vertical industries. In the transition towards the deployment, this paper aims to provide an in-depth tutorial on 5G positioning, summarizing the evolutionary path that led to the standardization of cellular-based positioning, describing the localization elements in current and forthcoming releases of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard, and the major research trends. By providing fundamental notions on wireless localization, comprehensive definitions of measurements and architectures, examples of algorithms, and details on simulation approaches, this paper is intended to represent an exhaustive guide for researchers and practitioners. Our approach aims to merge practical aspects of enabled use cases and related requirements with theoretical methodologies and fundamental bounds, allowing to understand the trade-off between system complexity and achievable, i.e., tangible, benefits of 5G positioning services. We analyze the performance of 3GPP Rel-16 positioning by standard-compliant simulations in realistic outdoor and indoor propagation environments, investigating the impact of the system configuration and the limitations to be resolved for delivering accurate positioning solutions.

Surveys

cellular localization

Millimeter wave communication

5G mobile communication

Computer architecture

Accuracy

location awareness

5G mobile communication

3GPP

Tutorials

positioning

Location awareness

Author

Lorenzo Italiano

Polytechnic University of Milan

Bernardo Camajori Tedeschini

Polytechnic University of Milan

Mattia Brambilla

Polytechnic University of Milan

Huiping Huang

Chalmers, Electrical Engineering, Communication, Antennas and Optical Networks

M. Nicoli

Polytechnic University of Milan

Henk Wymeersch

Chalmers, Electrical Engineering, Communication, Antennas and Optical Networks

IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials

1553877x (eISSN)

Vol. 27 3 1488-1535

Beyond 5G Positioning

FFI - Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation (022-01640), 2022-11-01 -- 2024-10-31.

Hardware-aware Integrated Localization and Sensing for Communication Systems

Swedish Research Council (VR) (2022-03007), 2023-01-01 -- 2026-12-31.

Areas of Advance

Information and Communication Technology

Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)

Communication Systems

DOI

10.1109/COMST.2024.3449031

More information

Latest update

8/6/2025 1